


Linger

by juxtaposedmusings



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Best Friends to Crush, Bughead School Dance, Cutesy fluff, F/M, First Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 11:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15971819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juxtaposedmusings/pseuds/juxtaposedmusings
Summary: Her heart shouldn't be beating this fast, she knows that. It's just a school dance and the boy whose shoulders her arms are wrapped around are just her that of her best friend's. Jughead Jones was the single greatest constant in her life, and the thought of him being anything else was never something Betty Cooper had ever stopped to consider.





	Linger

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [Tory-b](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toryb/pseuds/Toryb) for her fabulous betaing and here's something super soft and cute to cut through my usual tension and smut.

 

Her heart shouldn't be beating this fast, she knows that. It's just a school dance and the boy whose shoulders her arms are wrapped around are just her that of her best friend's. Jughead Jones was the single greatest constant in her life, and the thought of him being anything else was never something Betty Cooper had ever stopped to consider.

 

* * *

 

_Backtrack to two weeks ago:_

 

Betty slammed the door of her locker with a high level of fury as Jughead approached her with mock caution.

 

"Everything alright, Cooper?"

 

_Huff._

 

"That bad, huh?" He took two of the books she attempted to hurriedly shove in her bag, holding them for her casually like he always did whenever she worked herself up into a tizzy.

Another groan passed from her before he inquired further. "Do I need to take you to the nurse or are you going to tell me what's going on?"

The two departed from her locker, slowly making their way through the halls.

 

"I'm Reggie Mantle's third choice Homecoming date," she said, similarly to the way he imagined someone would confess about something far more unpleasant than being wanted by the (objectively speaking) most popular guy in their grade.

 

He blinked at her, silently, hoping she would make an attempt to add some sort of extra elaboration to aide in his understanding.

 

"Is that a bad thing?"

 

Betty looked at him aghast. Clearly, he was misunderstanding some sort of social convention here.

"That's so embarrassing, Jughead!"  He immediately flinched at the three octaves her voice jumped. "Josie and Cheryl both said no, and Veronica told me I'm next." Her hand went to cover her heart over her sweater. "I could die."

 

"So...just say no to him," Jughead stated as if the solution was easier than any mathematical equation he'd ever seen.

 

The continued furrow of her brow let him know he was quite off base. That he was dealing in remedial algebra while her predicament was worthy of Advanced Placement Trig at least.

 

"But then I'll have no one to go with. Everyone else has a date, and I can't show up alone. You just can't do that, Juggie. This isn't the eighth-grade dance."

 

_Right, it was just sophomore year,_ he thought. _How vastly different._

 

"We could go together. If it would make things better."

 

Betty stopped in her tracks, her head tilted as her lips parted in a level of surprise edging on shock.

 

"What?" He asked, unsure of what her reaction meant. "We could go together as friends," he added, seeing her reaction ease at once.

 

"You'd do that for me, Juggie?"

 

"It's no big deal, Betts."

 

She tackled him in a hug that nearly made him lose his grip on her books as he wrapped his arms around her as well.

 

* * *

 

Betty had always imagined walking down the staircase to see her homecoming date at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her expectantly. In the sort of way any girl who had watched more than one 90s romance movie in her formative years had pictured.

When his eyes finally looked up from his fidgeting shoes and locked onto hers, a rush of excitement shot through her, immediately conflicting with her long-held belief of seeing Jughead as nothing more than her best friend. Had she simply confused the level of ease and comfort she felt around him as being platonic?

The young man she saw waiting for her was not the same boy she had grown up with. He was so much more and each step she further allowed her to take in every aspect about him. How handsome he had become. How tall and manly he was in his own distinctly Jughead way. How in the world had she missed her best friend becoming this attractive?

She finished her slow-motion-esque descent, standing before him and he quickly fumbled to extend the small flower corsage in his hands.

 

"Is the color alright?" He asked, adjusting the band on her wrist appropriately.

 

"It's great, Jug, really." Her response was almost breathless, her eyes near welling with tears.

 

He smiled hopelessly at her, his thumb lightly rubbing the underside of her wrist before pulling away and offering her a bent arm to loop her own arm through.

 

"Shall well, then?"

 

* * *

 

While Betty had never stopped to consider Jughead as anything more than her best friend for the past decade and a half, she was currently mentally shuffling through every moment of possible romantic moments the two had shared in the past.

From study sessions that extended all day long to countless meals at Pop's to sleepovers when boys (knowingly or otherwise) broke her heart. Betty couldn't think of a single time where Jughead had ever broken a promise to her, and perhaps that level of reliability had caused her to overlook him. Perhaps she had always expected a love interest to always keep her waiting and wanting while the young man in front of her did everything but.

She shifted from side to side to the rhythm of the music, silently gathering the courage to ask the question she had been on her mind from the moment they looked at one another that night.

 

"Jug?" She started, already unsure if she should continue. Her nerves were continuing to doubt the nature of her new feelings.

 

"Yes?"

 

"If I asked you to kiss me, what would you do?" She settled on asking. She figured that telling him outright that she thought kissing someone was the only real way to determine if there was anything beyond platonic feelings between the two of them.

The pause he took to answer her question did wonders in unnerving her further.

 

"Is this to prove some point to Reggie or someone else?" He finally countered, skepticism clinging to his tone.

 

She shook her head, the loose curls lightly falling in her face.

His fingers drummed against her hip where his hands rested, his facial expression unreadable although it was clear he continued to look at her closely for any sign of deception.

One hand swiftly moved from her hip to her lower back, bringing her closer as his face swooped down and captured her lips with his own before she even had time to close her eyes properly.

Her eyelashes fluttered shut as her arms around his neck moved to allow her hands to hold the sides of his face.  The sensations of his upper and lower lips alternating over hers quickly had her forgetting that she was in a very public gymnasium at a high school dance.

By the time he had pulled away, her lips were still parted, awaiting his return. When she realized the kiss had ended, her eyes opened, once again seeing Jughead with a new level of clarity she never knew was missing before. She felt a chill run down her spine as she looked up at him, still close in proximity to her.

 

"I think I like you, Jughead," she confessed.

 

"You think, huh?" He teased, still managing to sway with the beat of the song still playing.

 

Betty pulled his face back down, opting to kiss him soundly instead of giving him a verbal answer and the rest of the room fell away as she danced the rest of the night away in the arms of her best friend.

 

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [Tumblr!](http://juxtaposedmusings.tumblr.com/)


End file.
